Agricultural combines are well known in the art for harvesting and threshing various agricultural crops, including for example, wheat, soybeans, corn, etc. Usually, agricultural combines include a harvesting apparatus, an infeed mechanism, a separating apparatus and a cleaning apparatus. In operation, the harvesting apparatus reaps the crop, which is planted in the ground. After reaping, the infeed mechanism feeds the crop to the separating apparatus.
Typically, the separating apparatus in a rotary combine includes at least one rotor, which can extend axially (front to rear) or transversely within the body of the combine, and which is surrounded at least in part by a perforated concave having a plurality of apertures. The grain is threshed and separated by the separating apparatus, and the separated grain, together with some impurities, such as chaff, dust, and crop residue particles, are fed to a cleaning system to clean the impurities from the grain. Clean grain is collected below the cleaning system and fed to a grain tank for temporary storage. The clean grain, impurities and smaller elements and particles of the crop residue are separated form the bulk of the crop residue by the separating apparatus and the resulting residue is delivered for processing by a discharge delivery system.
While the terms “grain” and “crop residue” are used principally throughout this specification for convenience, it should be understood that these terms are not intended to be limiting. Thus “grain” refers to that part of the crop which is threshed and separated from the discardable part of the crop material (e.g. straw), which is referred to as “crop residue”.
Traditional discharge delivery systems rely on a device often referred to as a “straw walker” or another device known as a “discharge beater”, to transport or convey the separated crop residue rearwardly within a body of the combine to a residue handling system. Generally, straw walkers, which involve crank mechanisms for conveying the crop residue rearwardly through a combine, are relatively slow in operation and thus have a limited material handling capability or rate. The crank mechanisms add complexity and vibration. Discharge beaters “throw” or propel the crop residue away from the separator and toward the rear of the combine. In both instances, the crop residue is generally either discharged directly in its raw form onto the harvested field or is first chopped through a chopper mechanism and then discharged onto the harvested field.
While conventional discharge beaters have adequately conveyed or discharged crop residue to the rear of conventional rotary combines, they are often less than satisfactorily able to consistently deliver crop residue to the residue handling systems of today's new, improved combines. For example, as capacities of modern combines and the volume of material the combine handles per unit of time have continued to increase, conventional discharge beaters have been unable to precisely and consistently throw the increased amounts of crop residue to the rear of the combine. Accordingly, use of a conventional discharge beater alone has been found to be insufficient for many newer combine applications.
To summarize, although technological advances have improved upon some of the inadequacies of conventional discharge systems, problems remain. One problem is that as crop handling capacities of combines have increased, the volume of crop residue that must be conveyed, thrown or propelled rearwardly within the body of the combine, has also increased.
Additionally, for some applications it is permissible or desirable to mix the straw and other crop residue with the chaff. For other applications it is required to handle the straw and chaff separately within the body of the combine and to process and discharge them separately. A problem that has been encountered in regard to these latter applications is that varying moisture content of crop residue, and different types of crop residue, result in a wide range of possible weights of the crop residue and thus the effort needed to properly deliver it to the rear of the combine. Accordingly, if crop residue falls short of the rear of the combine, blockages and interference with the operation of the chaff handling system can occur, thereby causing significant combine down time, decreases in harvesting productivity, and increases in operator and owner dissatisfaction and component failure.
Still further, when windrowing it is often desired for the straw to dry as quickly as possible, such that it can be baled and time will remain for planting and harvesting another crop in the field. However, when windrowing conventionally, the straw is driven or propelled downwardly into the stubble on the field, so as to mix with the stubble and be close to the ground. This can result in longer drying times, and to bale the straw the tines of the straw rake must pass through the stubble close to the ground for removing the straw from the stubble. The straw can also be distributed relatively unevenly, such as in wads and the like, so as to dry unevenly.
Accordingly, the drawbacks of the conventional systems and methods for discharging crop residue from a combine have been known within the industry without any marked improvement to date. Thus, the need exists for the present invention, which provides a system and method for more positively and uniformly controlling and discharging crop residue from a combine.
It is accordingly an objective of the present invention that it provide an improved system and method for positively discharging crop residue from a combine, the system and method allowing for precise and consistent delivery of crop residue from the threshing and separating area of the combine to the residue handling system or the rear of the combine.
It is another objective of the present invention that it provide a system and method for precisely and consistently delivering crop residue to the spreader of a combine for positively discharging raw crop residue, for subsequent spreading to the harvested field below.
It is yet another objective of the present invention that it provide a system and method for precisely and consistently delivering crop residue to the chopper of a combine for positive discharge of the chopped crop residue to the harvested field below.
It is an additional objective of the present invention that it provide a system and method for precisely and consistently discharging crop residue out of the rear of a combine, in a windrow formation, to the harvested field below.
It is yet another objective of the present invention that it provide a system and method for reducing and even alleviating crop residue blockages at the rear of the combine, thereby decreasing combine down time and increasing harvesting productivity and customer satisfaction.
It is still a further objective of the present invention that the system and method for positively discharging crop residue from a combine should also be of a construction which is both durable and long lasting, and it should also require little or no maintenance to be provided by the user throughout its operating lifetime. In order to enhance the market appeal of the system and method for positively discharging crop residue from a combine, it is desirably of inexpensive construction to thereby afford it the broadest possible market. Finally, it is also an objective that all of the aforesaid advantages and objectives be achieved without incurring any substantial relative disadvantage.